Whatever I make has been inspired by my culture. My grandma was born in Oaxaca and I’ve been visiting Oaxaca every summer with her since I was one year old. When I was around eight years old, my mom started her business selling Mexican folk art and she started to paint, so in the house she would always have different paints and other materials.
So having those resources available to me, it allowed me to start painting and start to express myself creatively. I started to paint a lot around 12 years old and I would paint from things that inspired me from my moms shop. My mom started doing face painting as well because of the shop and she convinced me to start doing it with her because she was confident that I would be good at it. I started face painting around 15 years old and I really got into it!
In September 2016, I started my Instagram as “@lacatrinitafacepainting” because I was doing more face painting than painting actual items to sell. Over time, I started painting Day of the Dead inspired animal figurines, then painted jean jackets, then earrings and other accessories. Because of this shift in my art, I changed my Instagram handle to @lacatrinitacrafts. My mom having her business and by going with her to vend at different events has definitely been a big part of the growth of my little craft hustle. I’m 21 years old, I have a part-time job, in the last semester of university to get my bachelors in psychology, dancing folklorico as well, face painter, and crafter. It’s really hard sometimes to make time for everything and but at the end of the day, I always feel accomplished for my hard work. Painting is something that I really enjoy doing and it makes me really happy that so many other people like my art and support it. It’s such a great feeling when I make and someone buys it at events or on my Etsy.